Layla woke with a jolt, her breath coarse and labored, the echoes of the dream still rattling her veritably bones. She sat up in bed, her heart pounding against her caricature pen like some kind of crazy war barrel. The room was pitch black, save the dim moonlight that managed to slip its way through the curtains. She turned a regard at Tyrrell, who lay sleeping serenely beside her, his chest rising and falling in regular intervals. She begrudged the peace that always sounded to shirk her." Again," she murmured, her voice low, running a hand through the tangles of her hair. The dreams, they noway stopped. With each passing night, they came more pictorial, more pertinacious, drawing her further along a path she was n't at each certain she wished to traipse.Always that figure stood in her life altitudinous, covered by murk, with a voice deep and foreboding; he spoke to her in mysteries, each one making her skin bottleneck. It had formerly told her she was meant for something bigger, m
" Why do I feel like I am drowning?" Layla murmured to herself as she stood on the edge of the cliff, the wind whipping her hair around her face. Below her, the ocean roared like an angry beast, a constant memorial of the chaos swirling inside her.Her mind had been a maze of fancies, fears, and the vaticination that lay heavy upon her chest. For days, she had tried to erect together everything that had come too important to bear; the more she set up out, the more lost she felt." You’re not drowning," a voice said from behind her, pulling her from her thoughts. She did n’t need to turn around to know it was Tyrrell. His presence was constant, a steady anchor in a world that felt like it was falling piecemeal.She took a deep breath in, filling her lungs to capacity before exhaling sluggishly." Feels like I am," she confessed, her voice quieter than normal." I allowed I could handle this. Allowed it would make sense. But the more I try to figure it out, the worse it gets."Tyrrell ste
" You do not understand," Layla rumored, her voice slightly holding the fluctuate. All this the weight of her powers, the prophecy, the impending battle- was too important to bear alone. She stood at the window, a witness as the horizon darkened with each passing minute the sun traveled further west." It's noway been about us. It noway was."He stood a many bases down, his arms crossed over his casket as he watched her with an intensity she could not read. His silence only served to make the pressure between them heavier, thickening it, suffocating. She could feel the gap between them grow wider, every fleeting moment reminding her of the distance that had crept in since she would first learned the truth about her role." You are right," Tyrrell eventually said, his voice softer than usual." I do not understand it, and perhaps I noway will. But I do understand that I am losing you, Layla." His words were like a gut punch. The look in his eyes- pained, frustrated, defeated- nearly shat
" You prevaricated to me." Layla's voice was no further than a tale, but the weight within that unpretentious tone stilled the air around them. Her hands shook at her sides, gripped so tightly into fists that her nails dug into her triumphs. She slightly felt it. She slightly felt anything past the burning in her chest.Alexander was across from her, his face undecipherable, a flicker of something- regret? No. He did not get to lament this. Not after everything." Layla-" Do n't." Her voice whipped out, like a scourge cracking through whatever excuse he was about to throw at her." You do not get to explain. You do not get to twist this into something it's not. Just tell me the verity for formerly. Was any of it real? Any of it at all?"Alexander exhaled, his jaw tightening." It was noway meant to be like this."It was a sharp laugh that tasted of bane; it smelled at Layla's lingo." What does that indeed mean? You played me. You played all of us." She took another step closer, gaping
" You’re allowing too important again."Layla slightly squinched at Tyrrell’s voice, though she had n’t noticed him approach. She was sitting on the edge of the small rustic veranda outside the pack house, her arms wrapped approximately around her knees. The night air was crisp, carrying the scent of pine and damp earth, but she slightly felt it.Tyrrell sat down beside her, near enough that their shoulders brushed. He was warm — he was always warm, like the fire that had burned inside him since the day she met him.Layla exhaled." It's hard not to suppose when everything feels like it's teetering on the edge of something we can not see."Tyrrell leaned back on his hands, tipping his head toward the sky." That is the problem with prophecies. They make you believe the end's formerly written."She turned to him, lowering ." You do not believe that?"He signed, eyes still on the stars." I believe we make our own choices. And I believe you are stronger than whatever's trying to pull you i
" You do not belong to him."Layla stopped in her tracks, heart slamming against her caricatures. The voice was familiar- too familiar. It transferred a bite down her chine, but not from fear. It was something differently. Something deeper.sluggishly, she turned.There he was, no longer just a figure from her dreams, no longer only a presence hanging in the reverse of her mind. He stood under the moonlight, his tableware eyes fixed on her, as if they had awaited for this moment since time began." You," she breathed.His lips twitched, nearly like he wanted to smile, but something held him back." I told you we'd meet again."Layla concrete her fists." Who the hell are you?"For one long moment, he simply regarded her. also, in a voice that wrung something out of her stomach, he drawled," Your mate."The air between them sparked and crepitated, alive with some unnamed thing. Layla swallowed, making herself stay firm." That is insolvable," she told him.He took another step closer, la
" You gon na keep standing there, miscarrying, or are you actually gon na say something?"Layla's voice cut the tense silence between them. She stood by the window, arms crossed, her expression half- recalcitrant, partial-expectant. The dim night danced across her features, catching the keen edge of frustration in her eyes.At first, Tyrrell said nothing. Standing near the door, one hand pressed against the rustic frame, he was tight- jawed, as if holding back something physical outside. The air of control, that sureness which sounded to bolster him, was n't there. He was a man standing on the edge of a cliff, importing up whether to jump." I did not want you to find out like this." His voice was low, a quiet, nearly to himself rather than to her.Layla laughed humorlessly." Oh, so you were planning on telling me? When, Tyrrell? After it was too late? After everything was set in stone and I did not have a say-so in my own damn fate?"His eyes cut to hers, sharp, agonized." It's not l
" You gon na keep avoiding me all night, or do I eventually get to know what is going on in that head of yours?"Layla did n’t turn around. She sat on the cold gravestone way outside the barracks, arms wrapped around her knees, gaping at the fluttering firebugs in the distance. The night air was crisp, carrying the scent of damp earth and something sharper — essence, bank, the remnants of the battle still moping in the wind." I’m not avoiding you," she muttered.Tyrrell soughed behind her." Could’ve wisecracked me."She heard the heavy but reticent footfalls, as he settled into the mattress beside her, not too near, not too far. A regardful distance that told her it meant I'm then, yet I'll not force myself.After a moment, neither had spoken. It stretched between them- the silence and implied bits left hanging like tapestries since the fighting began. sluggishly, Layla exhaled, shutting her eyes." I am just. thinking," she admitted eventually.Tyrrell raved a quiet laugh." That is
"You should've stopped me."Layla's voice pierced the silence of the war room, as sharp as the blade she had just driven into the wooden table. The candlelight danced, casting long shadows across the stone walls, but neither she nor Tyrrell paid it any mind.Tyrrell stood across from her, arms folded, his expression unreadable. "Stopped you from what? Saving what's left of us?"Layla huffed out an angry laugh as she ran her hand through her hair. "No, for making the damned decision in the first place-for sending Samira on that mission, for allowing myself to dream we had something of a possibility to win in this."Tyrrell's jaw clenched. "She knew the risk.""Don't." Layla pointed a shaking finger at Tyrrell. "Don't even dare act as if that does make it easy.Tyrrell let out a slow breath, the weight of the night bearing down on him. "You think I don't feel it? You think I don't hear her screaming in my head every time I close my damn eyes?"Layla's fists clenched. "Then why do you ke
"You sure about this?"Tyrrell looked up from his blade, running a cloth over its edge one last time. Elias was across from him, arms crossed, brows furrowed. The flickering torchlight in the room lent gravity to the tension between them."We don't have a choice," Tyrrell muttered, sliding the dagger into his belt.Elias let out a slow breath, shaking his head. "We always have a choice."Not this time."Layla stood at the far side of the war room, staring down at the map stretched across the wood table. The enemy's supply lines ran deep-carefully planned, well-guarded. Cutting them off wouldn't just weaken their hold on the siege. It could turn the tide completely.But it had to be done right.Layla dug her fingers into the surface of the table, her mind racing. "Infiltration won't be the hard part," she said finally. "It's getting back out."Tyrrell smirked. "Good thing I like a challenge."Elias wasn't amused. "This isn't a game."Layla raised her head, her gaze sharp. "That's enoug
" They are out there."Layla did not need Tyrrell to tell her that. She could feel it- the weight in the air, thick with expectation. The enemy forces had moved like murk in the night, girding the fort with ruthless perfection. Now they were staying, watching, tensing the mesh.She stood at the edge of the stone wall, surveying the treeline beyond the open field. The torches lining their defenses flitted, their light slightly pushing back the darkness." How numerous?" she asked, voice low.Tyrrell exhaled through his nose, his expression grim." further than we can count from over then. They have cut off every possible escape route. We are boxed in."A muscle in her jaw ticked." No reinforcements?"Tyrrell shook his head." Nothing. No dispatches getting in or out. They have got runners watching every path. The alternate anyone tries to break through, they'll be torn piecemeal."Layla's fingers coiled into fists. This was not just a siege. This was a slow, deliberate suffocation.A fig
" You should not be then." Layla's voice was a whip of sword, slicing through the night.The firelight danced across her face as she goggled at the figure standing just beyond its light. The people behind her were tense, ready to attack at her word, but she raised a hand, averting them. This was n't an ordinary enemy.The man before her took a slow step forward, his movements deliberate, as if testing the weight of her words. His dark eyes glistered with something undecipherable, something Layla did n’t trust.“ I came to talk, ” he said, voice smooth, calm. Too calm. “ That is, unless you’d rather continue this war alone. ”Besides her, Tyrrell shifted, fingers twitching on his belt to where his gun rested." You anticipate us to believe you came then just to sputter, Cassius?" His voice had a healthy quantum of doubt trickling from it.Cassius scowled and crossed his arms over his casket." What can I say? I am feeling generous tonight.Layla studied him, her instincts at war with her
" Move out, now!" Layla's voice cut through the pressure in the camp, sharp and commanding, like a cutter. Her eyes darted over her pack, surveying the faces of those who had gathered. Every one of them stood ready, but she could feel the unease in the air. There was no turning back now.Eerily silent, the camp fell as they came together, importing the storm above them that hung in the air. Everyone knew what was to be gained and lost. Every wolf, every fighter, understood the risk. But there was no fear. Not yet. Layla refused to let in the fear. Not today." Ready?" she rumoured, her voice low but indeed. She scrutinized around, again coming to rest on the figure that stood beside her- Jace deposited himself at her side, was formerly holding his armament, his eyes sharp and focused." Ready as we'll ever be," Jace said, slightly above a murmur in the still air." They are coming. Got to move out."In one nippy stir, Layla gave the order, and the pack surged forward. The earth sounded
" You ready?" Jace's voice was low, the question carrying an edge to it that had not been there ahead. It was the kind of question you ask when you know the answer is everything.Layla did not say anything right down. She dragged on the strips of her gear, and her fritters squeezed tight around the hilt of the brand hanging at her side. She felt its weight all the weight, really, of everything that had brought them to this point every decision, every fight, every defeat leading up to now. And the storm was about to hit.Just get this over with," she murmured, further to herself than to Jace. But he heard it, and the nod he gave her was slightly distinguishable. He knew what she was allowing, perhaps indeed better than she did.They were standing in the camp, the fire fluttering low, the air thick with tension. A many of the other wolves were scattered around, stropping weapons, agitating strategies in hushed tones. But Layla was not concentrated on them. Her eyes were fixed on the hor
"Where is he?"Layla's voice cut into the thick, heavy silence like a blade that had been whetted by the weight it carried within this war room. The room itself was dark-the only light an occasional flickering from the low-burning fire, dancing in shadows across old stone walls. Hard, cool eyes stared without blinking at a map laid flat before her; crumpled, yet serviceable. Plans were being rehashed, people regrouped, and answers were needed.The injuries to Tyrrell had been grievous, and still convalescing, he would not be much help in times to come anytime sooner. Finally, out of danger but still with dark circles beneath his eyes and shallow jerks of breath with movement, he did little good for Layla, who was running out of time after all-not with the threat of war looming in every direction.One of her most trusted warriors, Jace, spoke up, his voice low but firm. "Dorian's families holed up at their estate, a few miles to the west. But it's heavily guarded. No one's gotten in si
Layla felt her instincts kick in as she and her team moved through the dense forest. The air was heavier than it should be, thick with a silence that unnerved her. Even the leaves rustling sounded like they held their breath. She knew something was off, but she wasn't quite sure what. Yet."Something's off," she muttered, scanning around them.Tyrrell, walking a few paces ahead, didn’t respond right away. He was always the more level-headed of the two. “Keep moving,” he finally said, his voice steady, though his own sharp eyes darted to the treeline. “We’ve been through worse.”Layla nodded, but the knot in her stomach constricted. Every part of her was screaming that they were walking right into a trap-a trap she hadn't seen coming, not this one, not from this ally.But with the first chopper sound wave, her thoughts flashed to Dorian-a wolf, one of their staunchest allies who'd fought with them for months-run through her brain. He's the one brought the intel-insisted this route woul
“You’re sure this is the place” Layla asked, her voice tight with a blend of jitters and determination. She squinched low, her eyes surveying the darkened landscape beyond the trees, where the faintest figure of the enemy's fort impended. The night was still, save for the occasional howl of leaves. The air felt thick, as if it was holding its breath.Tyrrell jounced. His aspect cut through the murk sprucely." The information's good. The rogue wolves we've encountered are from this area. We cannot let them get any further, Layla. We need answers."Layla's jaw tensed, her heart pounding in her chest. also, we take them, she said, her voice firm. We get the answers we need, and we do it presto.Tyrrell's eyes darted to her." Stay focused. We need to move still.She smelled her teeth but said nothing. It had been a long way, and the last thing she wanted was to peril this chance at getting inside enemy home. Every step had been calculated, every moment measured. The enemy's operations wer